Women's Cross Country

Rodenfels, Gibson advance to NCAA Cross Country Finals

Nov 11, 2017

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Centre women's cross country team competed in the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Championships at Christopher Newport University on Saturday afternoon. The Colonels finished in third place out of 34 teams, but will send a pair of runners to the NCAA Championships next week.

Individually, junior Annie Rodenfels (Centerville, Ohio) placed second overall in 21:10.2 on the 6k course at Christopher Newport, earning her second consecutive All-Region honor and berth in the NCAA Championships.

Sophomore Courtney Gibson (Catlettsburg, Ky.) will be making her first trip to the NCAA Finals, finishing tenth overall in 21:59 as one of the top seven finishers among the non-team qualifiers. 2017 represents the second straight year that Centre will send two women's runners to the NCAA Championships.

Freshman Hallie Searcy (Louisville, Ky.) posted a time of 22:37.9 at the Regionals, good for 26th place overall and third among freshmen in the field. Searcy was the third Colonels runner to earn All-Region honors by virtue of finishing in the top 35 at the meet.

Freshman Alison Anderson (Hixson, Tenn.) and sophomore Margueritte Wheeler (Louisville, Ky.) rounded out Centre's scoring times for the day, finishing in 23:07.1 and 23:41.1, respectively, and each landing inside the individual top 70 in a field of 240 runners.

The next meet for Centre will see Rodenfels and Gibson race in the NCAA Championships in Elsah, Ill. on Nov. 18.